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The research has had impact through promoting bottom-up, community-based approaches to truth recovery as part of post-conflict transition and human rights advocacy. This has been most evident, in reach and significance, at local and regional levels within Northern Ireland as a region with unique circumstances (emerging post-1998 from armed conflict) and by influencing the attitudes and activities of community groups, human rights/victims' Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and lawyers involved in shaping truth recovery public policy. The work has had impact on governmental and statutory bodies and initiatives dealing with post-conflict victims' concerns and wider national and international civil society debates on truth recovery, human rights and the effects of counter-terror policing policies and practices in marginalised ethnic minority communities.
This case study relates to Professor Marianne Elliott's research into the history of religion, identity and conflict in Ireland. Through original research, covering many centuries, Elliott has demonstrated how conflicting identities have been based on simplified origin-myths. This case study describes some of the ways in which her research has benefitted a wider public. Through engagement with community organisations such as the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council, through dialogue with religious leaders and prominent peace campaigners, and through vigorous engagement in public discussion and media debate, Elliott's research has made a tangible contribution to the processes of peace-building and reconciliation as well as heightening public understanding of Irish history.
Research on mediation practice and conflict regulation contributed to the development of resources to enhance professional training standards and democratic participation in conflict-ridden societies. The researchers' work has focused on: a) post-genocide diaspora groups emphasizing the transformative effects of new social networking facilities; b) professional standards in conflict resolution practice; and c) power-sharing arrangements addressing gaps in minority-group representation. Scholarly work on conflict resolution capacity has had an impact on intergovernmental bodies, the media and transnational communities and has demonstrably produced innovative training methods for NGOs and conflict practitioners as well as resources to safeguard inclusivity in divided societies.
Armed conflict does not only result in death: injury and disablement as a consequence of political violence blights the lives of many and places demands on the public purse, yet is rarely researched. Limb loss, brain injury and psychological trauma is prevalent worldwide yet often ignored in communities ruptured by conflict and war.
The work of researchers at Surrey on the needs of the injured population as a result of armed conflict in Northern Ireland has provided the first comprehensive picture of an injured population and is being used to advocate at the regional and national level for a pension for those disabled in the Troubles and for improved services.
This case study assesses the impact of a series of knowledge exchange and public engagement projects undertaken in London and Northern Ireland between 2009 and 2013. These projects have made innovative applied use of a substantial body of research into modern British and Irish religious history conducted in the Unit.
This activity has:
In Northern Ireland the display of symbols in public spaces has remained a highly contested and consistent cause of public disorder. The research outlined in this case study is a leading Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister Indicator for effective policies on community relations. Impact is evidenced through the research in five ways. It has (i) altered government policies; (ii) enhanced broader democratic participation in local government debates; (iii) increased conflict resolution opportunities as part of local peace-building schemes; (iv) informed United Nations' work on divided societies; and (v) facilitated mediation networks dedicated to changing the nature of public space. It has been carried out according to a government brief for the whole Northern Ireland population, thereby encompassing the maximum scope possible for impact within the legal jurisdiction of the state. The research has been transformative in understanding and tackling the extremely contested issue of how and when flags are used in public spaces in Northern Ireland and it has influenced United Nations' consultations on post-conflict policies.
This case study refers to the body of survey research evidence on public attitudes to community relations, gathered over a period of two decades in Northern Ireland. The thesis on `impact' is that this body of work influenced government policies, public debate and good practice in equality procedures during the period 2008-2013. The survey results have become ubiquitous within debates and reports within/from government, political parties, journalists, lobbyists and NGOs and as a consequence have had significant and wide-ranging effects on Northern Ireland society.
This case study demonstrates the impact of historical research into conflict management and resolution on:
This case study is based on research into the history of conflict resolution/management, peace implementation and public diplomacy in Europe, North America, Sri Lanka and Australia.
This case study demonstrates how psychological and political science research has been utilised to inform policy and practice responses to violence and conflict. Work with the Forgiveness Project has utilised social-psychological research to develop the Forgiveness Toolbox. This is designed to assist key stakeholders, victims, perpetrators and civil society organisations in dealing with the psychological consequences of violence and conflict. The political consequences of violence and conflict were addressed, for example, through our collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Bosnia, which resulted in new material for their work on state and welfare reform.
Between 2009 and 2013, Professor Michael Kerr's research impacted Foreign and Commonwealth Office thinking and policy on how to address the deeply divided societies of Lebanon and Syria. Kerr's research addresses specifically the ways to apply lessons of the Northern Ireland conflict and subsequent peace process to Lebanon and Syria. This research was disseminated via the `Conversation with Diplomacy' project, led by Kerr, undertaken between Unit staff in the Middle East & Mediterranean Studies Programme (MEMS) and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO). This collaborative project consisted of knowledge transfer and high impact engagement with FCO Ambassadors, the Middle East diplomatic community in London, and members of the international policy making communities.